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Boys bowling: St. Charles East edges Lake Zurich for third place

St. Charles East's boys bowling team was making its first trip to the state tournament at St. Clair Lanes in downstate O'Fallon this weekend, and the Saints didn't want to leave empty-handed on Saturday.

After starting the day in eighth place, St. Charles East knocked down enough pins to jump all the way up to third place with 12,559 pins.

St. Charles East finished behind tournament champion Hononegah (12,909) and runner-up Harlem (12, 641) to claim the third-place hardware, while Lake Zurich took fourth place (12,483) and Stevenson eighth (12,248).

"It was a great feeling - great effort, and the team was supporting each other," St. Charles East coach Steve Dessauer said. "They are the ones that really deserve it. We knew that we could do it (reaching the top three). They had the right mindset, and it's an unbelievable moment for us."

St. Charles East was 11 pins back of third place going into the final game after rolling a 1,055 to overtake Lake Zurich, which had rolled 970. Domenick Strauss tossed a 245 and Dean Mudlong threw a 236 in leading the way for St. Charles East.

The Saints made a strong move in the morning set, which included games of 1,120 and 1,173 sandwiched around a 981 for a 3,274 series. St. Charles East followed up with 1,036, 981, and 1,055 for 3,072.

Strauss finished fourth individually at 2,714, which included Saturday series of 647 and 710.

"It's a great feeling and my goal was to be in the Top 5," Strauss said. "I had no clue that I was in the top four until like the fourth game of the day. It was crazy competition out there."

St. Charles East's other scorers were Aaron Mudlong (2,605), Dean Mudlong (2,526), Robert Olsen (2,063), Andrew Culbertson (1,340), Cole Cartee (1,095), and Timmy Smith (216).

Jacob Nimtz of Harlem was the individual tournament champ with a 12-game total of 3,011 for an average of 250.9. He started the day rolling two 300s with a 205 in between for an amazing 805 series. Nimtz followed up with a 717 series over the last three games.

Lake Zurich was trying to equal the program's best-ever finish of third place. The Bears started the day in the fifth spot and moved up to third before being passed by the Saints.

"St. Charles East took it to us with a run of marks," Lake Zurich coach Peter Kupfer said. "We just struggled with the transition in the last game. I'm still ecstatic - I didn't know what to expect. They boys bowled real well."

Danny Gross had a strong beginning for the Bears with a 731 series which included games of 228, 256 and 247. He followed up 197, 204 and 237 for a 638. Gross shot 2,648 over the two days, good for ninth place individually.

"I had my best three-game series," Gross said. "I was relaxed and I was taking it one shot at a time."

The other bowlers for the Bears were Ben Madura (2,593), Zach Johnson (2,463), PJ Waul (2,445), Connor Kovanda (1,732) and Nick Lopinski (602).

Stevenson started the day in third place but couldn't maintain the pace. The Patriots started with three games in the 900s - 981, 925 and 951 - for a 2,857 series and dropped into ninth place

But the Patriots improved over the last three games, with 1,022, 999 and 1,016 for a 3,037 series that moved them up a spot.

"We had an awesome experience," said Stevenson coach Barry Lapping, who is stepping down. "It was a shame that we didn't put it all together. I got the team to state, and we couldn't finish it off. However, it was a magical season. We won the conference, only lost one game, then made our way to the state tournament."

Richy Zenner was the top Patriots' bowler at 2,606. He rolled 603 and 618 over the 6 games Saturday with a high game of 258.

"I'm pretty happy, with this being my first year at state," said Zenner, who missed a medal by just 20 pins. "I expected to be in the top 20. I thought the lanes were different and made it much harder (Saturday). I just didn't have the same feel."

Stevenson's contributors included Matt Poetker (2,461), Josh Singer (1,861), Michael Aranyi (1,733), Zac Singer (1,357), Eddie Mendrala (946), Rafael Ridao (778), and Ted Tapas (506).

Brandon Biondo of Jacobs, state runner-up in 2014, picked up another medal by placeing 10th at 2,647. He rolled 661 in the morning and 640 over the last three games.

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